Pages

Why Essential Oils and Plastic Things Aren't a Good Mix

This is the door handle on the inside of my bathroom door. It's all 'lumpy' because the material has semi-dissolved.

The lumpiness didn't happen over night – quite the contrary. This door handle is made from a very sturdy plastic and can take just about anything you throw at it.

Except for some things.

It took me ages to figure out what caused this. Looking at the handle, you'd think someone had applied some kind of chemical to it.

That's exactly what happened.

Someone did.

It was me.

Took Ya Long Enough!

One would think – after a gazillion years of working with essential oils – I'd savvy up a bit. I'd look at the door handle on occasion and wonder what the heck was going on here. I even tried to blame my husband for it (although I couldn't figure out what he could possibly be doing to dissolve the door handle).

One morning it dawned on me. It was right after I had applied my morning face oil and was grabbing the handle to open the door.

Hi Almocado - Interesting! I've never seen essential oils store or delivered in plastic bottles. Have you used this supplier for very long? Even having a small amount of essential oil in a product and storing that product in, say, PET or HDPE plastic will cause a reaction between the plastic and the oils. You can reuse plastic bottles that have had products containing essential oils a few times, but then they need to be discarded. Doing a nose test is enough to reveal that the scent will remain regardless of how many times you clean the bottle. Personally, I would be a little concerned about long term storage of essential oils in plastic. So, to answer your question: I would either transfer the oil or find a supplier who delivers in glass bottles.

Thanks. I've been using them for over 2 years and always wondered about the plastic (since other suppliers use glass...) They've just introduced "premium packaging" which is blue glass for an extra price per product.

Finally an explanation to why the door handle on the inside of my bathroom door is all rough compared to th eoutside! I had never thought of it but yup, its true. Not giving up my facial oil blend on that account though :-)